The Oakside- Redbridge FC v Romford FC

Redbridge Vs Romford

After months of twittering with @TheMotormen and @ADennehey (Adam Dennehey) I chose the derby between Redbridge and Romford FC in the Ryman Division One North to make a trip to the Oakside.

Setting off from Notting Hill it took me an hour to get to the ground, as the central line stops at Barkingside and a 3 minute walk around the station brings you to the ground.

But being a bit early I walked around the area for a bit, looking for a bar/pub to have a pint, watch the unfolding of the Champions League whilst doing my Sudoku, but no pubs in the area near the ground or surrounding the station.

Approaching the leafy area near the Oakside i caught a few snaps through the top fence, the Chairman arrived in his Jaguar (Flash the cash).

The entry fee is £5 plus £1.50 for a match day programme which was impressive.

Into the club house a pint will cost you £3 with a lovely young barmaid (the only way is Essex type of fake tan) but more impressive is the clubhouse is very modern, having been refurbished not too long ago.

I also grabbed a burger, with the food being sold next to the stands and at £2.50 was a good burger.

On to the match:
My first 5 minutes were watched from the bar as i finished my pint, immediately i saw the Centre back completely miss a tackle and luck was on his side when the striker over ran the ball. But his luck immediately ran out as Romford put one over Redbridge with again the battle being lost in the centre of defence.

Through the first half Romford had the best of possession but created very little threat at goal, mainly blasting the ball over the net-less ground, infuriating the ball catching official.

The second half was almost similar to the first, Romford got on the score sheet again halfway through when a lob over the keeper, which everyone thought was going in, came off the post only for Alex Reid, a former Redbridge player to smash it into the back of the net as no Redbridge players opted to run and cover the net.

Redbridge got a penalty when Shane Stamp was pulled back in the area after he had made a good break from the left, Lee Townrow stepped up and converted with a powerful shot.
The final nail was hammered in by Kurt Smith just before the final whistle, when he was fed inside, he took on one defender and with a low shot made it 3-1.

On the team:
Something to desire, the club has a good number of strong players, the style of football was aerial, with hardly any combination passing throughout the match. Centre midfield was nonexistent, the passing and possession of Hyon-Jin Lee usually spelt missed passes or lost possession.

Shane Stamp often ran into trouble, with the option to pass back and ran off available, but not ever used. But he did look good when fed through with his quick pace.

From a team overall, there was no width or central play, going forward the team had no striker and Kevin Mcleod was unavailable, but even if so, the passing was hard to come by, and when it did, Julian Edwards fluffed the one or 2 chances he had.

For Romford there was spells of good possession and communication, they thoroughly deserved the 3 points and goals, they hardly gave Redbridge the time to move the ball.

Redbridge seem to have a good young base, and their academy side does well (from what I read and heard), perhaps the introduction of a few would be beneficial to the first.
My views are also that a bit more tactical and passing work may be needed to achieve a good level of attractive football, but with points needed its imperial to play the route to goal, with Redbridge just about being safe maybe a rethink by the young manager (same age as me) Jody Brown.

The Crowd and overall:
I was happy with the number at the ground, told mostly were Romford supporters, but the crowd Redbridge had was fantastic, they had offered a local Special needs group the chance to attend the match and cheer on The Motormen and what a fantastic group they were, not even with the team 3-1 down they stopped believing. They promised to come back as they had enjoyed their night. And for a lower league club to offer this support was truly amazing.

Overall was an enjoyable night at the Oakside, and should I not be involved in managing next season I shall make a return to the Oakside.

Football in the mix

Are English football clubs offering enough?

Barcelona play Hockey??

Along with many other countries football clubs in Portugal are a lot more than just a football club.

In some countries in Europe sport is taken as part of an organisation, in Portugal from the major clubs to the lower clubs, social activities and a community feel is given from most clubs.

Lacal club offers handball.

People will notice that Sporting not only grows majority of Portugal's best players but they also turn out a lot of good runners and Portuguese Cycling is made up of mostly Sporting cyclists.

Sporting's Obikwelo 100 meters runner

SL Benfica and FC Porto have great European roller skating hockey teams from both youth and adults.

There is also Andebol (handball) which is one of the most viewed and covered sport after football, and obviously Futebol de Salao is highly followed.

Benfica Hockey

Stadiums from the smaller clubs to the biggest always have a sports complex next to them, or they offer it in the stadium as was the case at Estadio da Luz prior but now it’s at a pavilion next to the ground.

The smaller clubs are able to offer football plus another sport.  It just means that their presence in the community is strong and they are able to accommodate everyone’s preference of sport.


Almost all clubs have a pavilion

Around Europe and the World great teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Roma, CSKA Moscow offer a different sport and are openly involved in more projects then just football.



Flamengo Swimmer

Around England, the stadia’s and areas of football grounds are deserted or used as tour for clubs to make money, the grounds seem to be a fortress with flat greying walls, shut doors and only a tour guide door and a couple of offices open for the director of football if he does not happen to be at the training ground.

I have long believed that not a lot more then football is offered but organisations that make millions of pounds and also pay out millions.

We have cricket in season by some counties who struggle to make ends meet, ladies hockey is popular but again the struggle to get a spot at a local astro-turf, or for funding and recognition is amazingly high. The Basketball league is considerably famous in England but couldn't the competition be between a Spurs vs Arsenal sometimes?

I am not saying that there should be total dominance by major clubs, but what about lower clubs being given the grants to maybe start one of these projects?

"Redbridge FC opens door to local basketball team"

Barcelona vs Real Madrid

One team I know in London are offering this, Kingsbury London Tigers offer Basketball, Badminton, Athletics etc.. Tigers have organisations stretching from Redbridge to Westminster and seem to do well in their first team in the Spartan Premier Division.  From when I first heard of Tigers they were a local youth side who offered a few sports to local youngsters, I understand they have partnered old Kingsbury Town FC.

There might be a few organisations out there offering the same but how many are offered by clubs at a level seen in Europe and around the world whilst the king sport is football.

How could we go about trying to change this? Can bigger clubs follow suit and start other projects then football?

Benfica Futebol de Salao

Although Project such as reading, Kick It Out, Community in the school’s football is great, do all kids actually want to play football? What if John is a basketball fan, what if he was more suited to hockey?

Although I understand that these sports are offered individually but independent organisations who often struggle, What costs to pay for one players, one week wage costs to run some of the of these sports for a year, and with a bit more investment I am sure a lot more kids would benefit from being associated with clubs be it Major or Non League.

FC Porto